Cosmetic Dentistry & Smile Designing

Cosmetic dentistry : Cosmetic dentistry is dentistry aimed at creating a positive change to your teeth and to your smile. Most think of tooth whitening or porcelain veneers, but a cosmetic dentist can provide much more. A skilled, experienced cosmetic dentist can help to improve your appearance, your smile, even your self-esteem, and confidence. Today, cosmetic dentistry has continued to evolve to where cosmetic dentists can address functional and esthetic patient concerns.

Cosmetic dentistry has evolved from simply replacing and restoring damaged teeth to covering a wide scope of esthetic procedures. Today’s cosmetic dentistry includes tooth whitening, tooth bonding, tooth-colored restorations and fillings, porcelain veneers, orthodontics, dental implants, and more. You may be surprised by how dentistry has evolved and what can be done by an experienced cosmetic dentist.

Smile designing : A smile speaks a thousand words. Smiling is an act of a person’s ability and willingness to express emotions with the movement of their facial muscles and lips. The art of smile designing is a well-organized, systematic and modern approach done on patients to evaluate, diagnose and resolve aesthetic problems. It gives a new improved look to the patient’s smile. It is done by modifying specific and distinguished aesthetic elements.

Smile designing can also be called a process of improving the appearance of the smile with the help of different dental treatments like composites, dental veneers, bonding, dental implants, teeth whitening and gums surgery (recon touring). In older times, the process of making a beautiful smile was done with the help of animal tusks to sharpen teeth, curve their size, shape and appearance etc.

Importance of smile designing : The most important function of this process is to give a beautiful, healthy and everlasting smile. Smile designing also develops a stable masticator system where teeth, jaws, mouth muscles and mouth joints can function normally. It gives the teeth a normal and beautiful appearance, and with a beautiful smile comes an enhanced confidence.

Metal fillings in teeth or a tooth can be replaced with tooth colored fillings. The presence of stains, discolored teeth and dull teeth can also be improved with the help of teeth whitening procedures. Teeth which are half broken or cracked, overlapped and have a large space between each other can also be properly filled and covered with the help of cosmetic treatments.

Missing teeth always give a negative impression on beauty of smile. Whether teeth are missing from the front or back jaw missing teeth increase the risk of bone loss, caries to other teeth and the health of gums. Artificial dentures, crowns and bridges can help in overcoming such problems. Uneven and chipped teeth can also be designed and restored to normal with cosmetic bonding materials and even a gloomy smile can be improved.

Components of Smile designing : In order to achieve a good smile, proper facial and dental components are required. A few of them are, shape of the jaws, shape of the face, position of the eyes, width of lips.

The Shape of the Face : To complete successful treatment, a proper alignment, symmetry and proportion of the face is required. This treatment includes multidisciplinary dental approach like orthodontics, orthographic surgery, gum treatment and plastic surgery. The horizontal and vertical dimensions of the face also play a vital role. The size, shape, position, width, location, built, health and other dimensions of the jaws, eyes and lips help in achieving a beautiful aesthetic smile.

Vital Elements of Dental Composition : Apart from the natural looks of an individual, the following dental elements are very much desirable. The midline between both upper and lower jaws which divides them equally. The length of upper and lower front teeth. The length and width of teeth. Presence of number of joints among teeth sex, symmetry and age. Overall symmetry and balance of all these components.

Soft Tissue Components : Healthy gums are desired. The level and symmetry of gums present in both the jaws. Smile line (the extent up to which a person can smile) Smile makeover care and maintenance Cosmetic dental procedures or smile designing procedures demand proper, regular and long-term oral care like daily brushing , regular dental check-ups within short intervals of at most three to six months. Repeating the treatment after a span of a few years may also be required in order to prevent the total loss of prior results and to maintain the aesthetic standards. Smile designing procedures should be very appealing, comfortable, hygienic, easy to maintain and functionally very successful. Smile designing should be done with a conservative mind set involving less time, reasonable costs and more durability. A multispecialty approach gives an individual an overall makeover.

Restoration of Teeth by Dr. Chetan Darne